Wingbone calls are functional works of art

Any hunter can make one from a turkey's wing by telescoping the ulna, humerus and radius together.

Hunters also enjoy decorating their turkey calls and wingbone calls are no exceptions.

I have had a call made by Jay Burnworth of Dola, Ohio that is one of the most beautiful calls in my collection.

Now 77, Burnworth began hunting turkeys in 1980.

"I hunt turkeys in six or seven states a year," he said. "I made my first wingbone call in the early 1990s. I read that wingbones have been found in Pueblo Indian ruins, so there must be a good reason."

He made the first one from a wing he brought home after an Ohio hunt.

At first, he gave them as gifts to landowners who allowed him to hunt.

Now, he makes about 100 "Birdman Wingbones" annually from wings hunters send to him from across the U.S.

"Before I made wingbones, I used boxes and slates," he said. "Everybody uses boxes and slates, which is the reason wingbones are effective. Turkeys have not heard them before."

Burnworth said a wingbone works well as a locator call because a gobbler answers it when he ignores anything else.

They work in other situations when other calls do not.

"I was hunting in Pennsylvania when I located two toms with six hens," he said. "I didn't think I could get them to come, but kept calling every five or 10 minutes until both of them were answering. One eventually came into range. He had 1-inch spurs and a 10-inch beard. He was at least a three-year-old, so he had hunted been a lot."

Since a wingbone takes more practice to master than other calls, most hunters are gun-shy of them. Burnworth wears his call on a lanyard around his neck.

When he anticipates seeing a gobbler strut into range, he drops the call it inside his overalls big to protect it.

"Wingbones are fragile," he said. "I once dropped my call as I was getting ready to sit down, sat on it and broke it. The bones get brittle with age, so when I cross a creek, I dunk my call in water to keep the bones from drying out. Wetting the call also

makes it sound better."

To use the call, he kisses the tip, which has rubber washers to create a mouthpiece.

He pinches the trumpet end between a thumb and forefinger and wraps one hand around the other. Moving his hands and fingers changes the tone, volume and casts turkey sounds in different directions.

"You have to move it around your lips until you find the sweet spot," he said. "I put mine in the corner of my mouth. It makes yelps, cuts, purrs, kee-kees and gobbles.

But, it doesn't work well on windy days because it doesn't get much volume."

To make a call, Burnworth cuts off the joints, boils the bones and allows them to dry. Then he grinds the ends until they slip inside each other.

The humerus makes the trumpet, the ulna the midsection and the radius the mouthpiece. The length of the mouthpiece determines the tone.

Smaller hen bones give the call a higher pitch while larger gobbler bones create a lower pitch. Burnworth prefers jake bones because they make higher-pitched calls than gobbler bones and are easier to acquire then hen bones.

He glues the bones together with epoxy, wraps them with colored thread, adds laser engravings, ink drawings and applies Flex Coat finish.

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